Deep in the winding hills of the Ozarks lies a place like no other.
Founded in 1992, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge works to rescue big cats and bears from private ownership, false sanctuaries, and zoos. The refuge is located 7 miles south of Eureka Springs, and the 459-acre property is home to almost 100 animals, including lions, tigers, and even a grizzly bear named Bam-Bam. According to its website, Turpentine Creek’s mission is, “To provide lifetime refuge for abandoned, abused and neglected ‘Big Cats,’ with emphasis on tigers, lions, leopards and cougars.”
The nonprofit facility is registered with the USDA as a legitimate sanctuary, meaning that none of the animals are bought, sold, traded, bred, or loaned out of the facility. Turpentine Creek is the forever home of these animals once they are rescued.
Because the refuge is a nonprofit, it relies solely on funding from admissions, lodging and donations. With the holiday season coming up, Turpentine Creek is emphasizing Giving Tuesday as a time to help the refuge reach its donation goals.
Beckie Moore is head of the refuge’s education department and has been a wildlife interpreter there for seven years.
Turpentine Creek’s Wildlife Interpreters give tours daily, informing patrons of each animal’s story on how they came to the refuge.
Aurora is a 7-year-old Siberian Tiger and has been at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge since 2016.
According to its website, Aurora and 114 other animals were rescued from a Colorado-based cub petting and breeding facility. Turpentine Creek worked with partner sanctuaries to care for the animals for six months and relocated all of them to refuges across the U.S.
Aurora is one of the 34 animals from this rescue operation brought to Turpentine Creek. Now she enjoys frolicking around her enclosure and playing with her favorite yellow ball.
While tigers are not the only animal at Turpentine Creek, they are the most prevalent. According to its website, Turpentine Creek is home to 46 tigers and four tiger-lion hybrids.
Turpentine Creek’s staff consists of many people, including wildlife interpreters, an on-site veterinarian, and animal-care interns. Their six-month-long internships recruit those with zoology or biology degrees who want to gain experience working at a refuge.
Connor Kelly is three months into his internship with the refuge, and said he has worked with animals for many years, but really enjoys getting experience with large predators. As an animal care intern, Kelly has the opportunity to care for many of the animals directly. For an accredited sanctuary like Turpentine Creek, that means still having one layer of fencing between him and the animals.
He said he wanted people to think outside the box with Giving Tuesday donations, as the refuge has opportunities for patrons to sponsor an animal as well as provide items for enrichment.
Kelly said Giving Tuesday is Nov. 29 and donations will help all of the animals at the refuge.
According to its website, Turpentine Creek is fundraising to help its enclosures have in-ground pools as well as an education center.
Moore said she is hoping some of the Giving Tuesday funds go toward the education center, since that has been a dream of hers since she started working at the refuge seven years ago.